Pirates Close Three-Game Homestand Against Cincinnati
February 20, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - Riding a five-game winning streak, the East Carolina women's basketball team will close its regular-season series with Cincinnati on Saturday, Feb. 21 at Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum. Opening tip is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
The Pirates and Bearcats last met just 11 days prior, as ECU rolled to a 78-53 road win after holding UC scoreless for a span of 13:43 that covered the end of the first half and more than eight minutes to start the second. The purple and gold trails, 4-3, in the all-time series, but have won each of the last two matchups.
East Carolina (18-8, 9-6 AAC) last won five in a row when it began the season with a 5-0 record, but has caught fire since its comeback victory at Tulane on Jan. 31. The program's 22nd and newest member of the 1,000-point club, redshirt junior Jada Payne, has scored a team-high 20 points in back-to-back contests and nine times overall this season. Redshirt senior Abria Trice has scored in double figures in each of the team's five-straight victories while averaging 16.2 points and shooting over 50 percent from the floor.
Cincinnati (6-19, 3-11 AAC) enters Saturday on a four-game losing streak and owns a 1-11 overall mark in road games on the year. Freshman Ana Owens leads the team with 12.3 points per contest and 11.5 in American Conference tilts, while sophomore Marley Hill ranks second on the squad with 11.9 points per game and 11.4 in league games. The Bearcats are allowing conference foes to shoot 43.8 percent from the field and are being outscored by 20 points per game through 14 matchups.
FEBRUARY PERFECTION
East Carolina owns an unblemished 4-0 mark in February and have just two games remaining during the month. The Pirates have recorded an unbeaten February just three times in program history, the last coming in 1992 when they went 8-0. The first two occurrences were in 1986 (8-0) and 1973 (7-0). Overall, ECU has achieved a perfect record just five times during a calendar month comprising at least six games, the others bring November 2009 and 2013 (6-0).
PAYNE ECLIPSES 1,000 POINTS
Redshirt junior wing player Jada Payne scored her 1,000th point in just her 57th-career game at East Carolina to become just the 22nd player in program history to break the milestone in the 67-53 win over SMU on Feb. 18. Allison Spivey (2007-11) was the last to break the threshold and ranks 20th all-time with 1,043.
A PROGRAM-DEFINING VICTORY
East Carolina defeated No. 25 South Florida, 65-64, on February 15 to snap the Bulls' six-game winning streak in its annual Play4Kay pink game, marking its first victory over an opponent ranked in the Associated Press' top 25 poll since taking down No. 24 North Carolina State, 89-82, on Dec. 9, 2007. Ironically, that NC State team was coached by the late Kay Yow.
FEELING AT HOME AWAY FROM HOME
The Pirates have played just 11 of its first 26 games at home this season, but own a 10-5 overall record in games played away from Minges Coliseum. Eight of its first 13 American Athletic Conference contests were played on the road where they posted a 5-3 mark. ECU possesses an 8-3 mark within its friendly confines this year and a 36-5 ledger dating back to the start of the 2012-13 campaign.
THE TRICE FACTOR
Redshirt senior Abria Trice has scored in double digits in each of ECU's five-straight wins, including a season-high 23 points on nine made field goals to down Cincinnati on Feb. 10. She has also been a primary go-to option, scoring the Pirates' last two baskets in the final minute of the 67-63 triumph over the Green Wave on Jan. 31. During the span, Trice is also shooting 21-for-22 (.954) at the free throw line. Overall, Trice is averaging 16.2 points, shooting 50.9 percent from the field and hitting free throws at an 87.1-percent clip during the five-game swing.
WINNING AGAINST THE GRAIN
The Pirates claimed a 78-53 win at Cincinnati on Feb. 10 despite trailing at halftime, losing the turnover battle and allowing the opposition to make more than five shots from three-point range. The victory was ECU's first when trailing at halftime in seven total occurrences this season and entered the night just 3-6 when having more turnovers and 3-5 when allowing five or more threes.
PICKING POCKETS
As of Wednesday, Feb. 11, the Pirates rank in the top 20 among NCAA Division I teams with an average of 11.8 steals per game. They totaled a season-best 24 heists in the 67-53 home win over SMU on Feb. 18, and have recorded 12 or more on 13 different occasions this season.
PAYNE BRINGS THE RAIN
Jada Payne broke ECU's single-season record for three-pointers made with 70 in 2013-14 and is just seven away from breaking her own record this season. With three triples at Cleveland State on Dec. 4, she moved into eighth place on the program's all-time list, and after making four more in the win at Loyola Maryland on Dec. 9, Payne became the eighth player in program history to make 100 shots from beyond the arc in her career. She made one triple against No. 2 UConn on Dec. 31 to move into seventh place.
